Needless to say my sleep schedule is all screwed up. By the time I got to bed last night, it was a little after 11:00 p.m., and even though I was thoroughly exhausted, I lay awake, wound up as tight as a fancy new watch. Finally, about 1:00 a.m., I gave him and took some melatonin which put me out – for a couple of hours anyway. It was a fitful night’s sleep.
I got up (to stay) at 8:00 a.m. and headed down to the gym for a work-out, mindful of my last trip here when I ate like crazy, never worked out, yet returned to Vancouver with not the slightest change to my weight – to which my buddy Ivon replied: “Yeah, for every pound of muscle you lost you gained a pound of fat.” So, today’s regimen: a ten minute sprint, 200 squats, 200 incline push ups, 200 bicycle crunches, 400 dips, and another ten minute sprint to finish. Hopefully, this trip, I’ll be able to put on a pound of muscle for every pound of fat I’ll no doubt gain.
I showered, shaved, did my computer thing (a big thanks to Carl for the Skype app tip), and headed out, strolling through Ginza and taking note of the interesting landmarks. No, not ancient statues or temples. Think more contemporary –
I finally eventually met up with my friend Moro, who I got to know on my last trip here (following multiples visits to the Pierre Marcolini Cafe where she works), and, with her help, purchased one of those of go-anywhere-you-want subway cards.
Today, I used it to go to Shibuya where we killed half an hour walking around and checking out the local sights –
– and then finally arrived at our lunch destination: Chez Matsuo.
It’s a quaint, detached house-turned-restaurant that the Imperial family put on the map years ago and it boasts a Michelin star for its French fare, old school charm, and impeccable service.
The interior is certainly cozy, adorned with antiques, turn-of-the-century furniture, and artwork by Matsuo himself. Taking care of us on this day was our man Takashi, the Assistant Manager and Senior Sommelier.
Our lunch, a set menu, broke down as follows:
After lunch, we went for another stroll, cutting through a sad little park –
– on our way back to Shibuya where we hit Kiddyland. There, I got myself an Evangelion t-shirt and bought my sister a present (which, upon further reflection, I may have also bought her the last time I was here).
Well, cutting through a park and toy-shopping can really work up an appetite, so we eventually ended up at one of my favorite places in Shibuya, Pierre Herme, where I enjoyed a snack:
I was stuffed. I couldn’t imagine eating another bite until tomorrow morning (which is why I bought some macarons to go – the seaonal assortment made up of foie gras, black truffle, and white truffle). We did, however, have dinner reservations so, to work up an appetite, it was back to strolling –
A subway ride back to Ginza. Another visit to the Pierre Marcolini Cafe where I said hi to Keiko (who I’ll be spending the day with on Friday) and meeting Akemi (who I’ll be going out with on Sunday), and then it was off to dinner.
And WHAT a dinner it was! But the details are going to have to wait until morning because the rundown is going to require a lot more energy than I have right now.
Oyasumi nasai!
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